Save the Gippsland Line

gippsland-line-2.jpg

 

Dear Daniel Andrews,

We the citizens and people of Gippsland do not agree with the recommendation that regional train services be terminated at Pakenham and our vulnerable, disabled and elderly be forced to change trains on their journey to Melbourne. Many of these people are the disadvantaged of our community, often seeking medical assistance & appointments in metropolitan medical centres that are not available in our region.

This change would also affect the bike tourists and young families who would also have difficulty with young children, prams and bikes changing trains to and from crowded metropolitan rail. The Gippsland area is being promoted as a great tourist region with economic benefits and as a way of overcoming the demise of the coal and timber mill industry and continual rail service is a must for this to succeed.

Other frequent users of the system are our people who work in the metropolitan centres and choose to live in the regional and rural areas here for the lifestyle and community opportunities that we have. The current system is unreliable and often runs late, this additional transfer and changeover time will add to the already overly long trip and decrease the reliability of the transport system to them, not to mention the additional time needed to be added to the start of the trip, getting up earlier, the changes in timetables that will be required etc.

We understand that the cost of upgrading the metropolitan system is a burden, but can Gippsland at least have the same standard as the other Victorian regions, that our Melbourne trains actually go to Melbourne, as they now do.

The Federal Minister for Infrastructure who is a resident here has promised his support in working with the state government to help sort the congestion problem.

We ask that you do not accept this part of the report from the citizens jury on face value and seek further consultation with the impacted communities and federal counterparts as you work towards an upgrading of the lines to at least the standard that the other Victorian Regions rail systems already have.

 

1,310 SIGNATURES
1,200 signatures

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Showing 948 reactions

  • Barry Hodder
    posted about this on Facebook 2016-08-07 13:12:43 +1000
    A Melbourne train should go to Melbourne, why does the Gippsland regional line get substandard service recommended?
  • Barry Hodder
    signed 2016-08-07 13:11:32 +1000
  • marian mckkenzie
    signed 2016-08-07 13:08:05 +1000
    Save the line
  • Peter Phillips
    signed 2016-08-07 13:05:45 +1000
  • Lisa Testart
    posted about this on Facebook 2016-08-07 12:57:19 +1000
    A Melbourne train should go to Melbourne, why does the Gippsland regional line get substandard service recommended?
  • Lisa Testart
    @LovingTherapy tweeted link to this page. 2016-08-07 12:57:16 +1000
    A Melbourne train should go to Melbourne, why does the Gippsland regional line get substandard service recommended? http://www.votv.org.au/gippsland_line?recruiter_id=2133
  • Lisa Testart
    signed 2016-08-07 12:56:10 +1000
  • Patricia van Schyndel
    signed 2016-08-07 12:42:28 +1000
  • Craig Barden
    signed 2016-08-07 12:42:07 +1000
  • Matthew Vaux
    signed 2016-08-07 12:24:46 +1000
  • Katherine Hayler
    posted about this on Facebook 2016-08-07 12:16:32 +1000
    A Melbourne train should go to Melbourne, why does the Gippsland regional line get substandard service recommended?
  • Catherine Hearse
    signed 2016-08-07 12:13:26 +1000
  • William Hornstra
    signed 2016-08-07 12:09:02 +1000
  • Gary Hammarstrom
    signed via 2016-08-07 11:54:56 +1000
  • Brooke Mollison
    signed 2016-08-07 11:17:45 +1000
  • Hollice Rundle
    signed 2016-08-07 10:59:05 +1000
    Rail travel right into Southern Cross Station is an absolute necessity for those of us with disabilities and age related difficulties.


    This service gives us direct access to hospitals and specialists we otherwise would have to spend time and money traveling via alternative means. For some that will mean added confusion and anxiety to an already difficult trip.


    Still others use this service (directly into Melbourne proper) to access shops, entertainment and cultural pursuits otherwise denied to them in the regional towns. Again the ability to move directly to your intended destination without transferring to other means is a requirement that borders on an essential necessity.


    The questions that need to be asked is "Why, when we have a public transport system servicing the rural areas, do we need to change that system…and for whom does it benefit to make any changes? Because it would not only inconvenience those of us living on the Gippsland line, but would fail to provide an efficient alternative.


    Please do not turn this into another fail for the people in Gippsland.
  • Carmel Smyth
    signed 2016-08-07 10:55:24 +1000
    I and my family travel to Bairnsdale regularly and need this line maintained.
  • Lesley Carolan
    signed 2016-08-07 10:25:44 +1000
  • Tracey Barlow
    signed 2016-08-07 10:03:09 +1000
  • Lisa Matthews
    signed 2016-08-07 10:02:08 +1000
  • Bec Robjant
    posted about this on Facebook 2016-08-07 09:57:03 +1000
    A Melbourne train should go to Melbourne, why does the Gippsland regional line get substandard service recommended?
  • Rebecca Robjant
    signed via 2016-08-07 09:56:15 +1000
    Wish the government would stop taking things away from gippsland. Vline need this melbourne service . I visit the area often its already hard enough to try and make a train to regional gippsland.
  • Peter Gilfillan
    signed 2016-08-07 09:42:42 +1000
  • Linda Kruger
    signed 2016-08-07 09:42:16 +1000
  • Jessica Williamson
    signed via 2016-08-07 09:34:11 +1000
  • Maree Tink
    signed 2016-08-07 09:27:58 +1000
  • Susan Haley
    signed 2016-08-07 09:25:18 +1000
  • Tracey Borthwick
    posted about this on Facebook 2016-08-07 09:19:02 +1000
    A Melbourne train should go to Melbourne, why does the Gippsland regional line get substandard service recommended?
  • Peter Mckenzie
    signed 2016-08-07 09:16:55 +1000
  • Jenni Mainwarring
    signed 2016-08-07 09:16:50 +1000
    Maybe we should stop the power the Gippsland produces at pakenham

    Clearly country voters don’t count!!